Basically, this is a garbage dump for everything Tsanka/Denaksa related. I'll be posting everything there is to know about these two groups/their plot as I finish it. Below will be a list of quick links to get you whatever information you seek faster. Some characters are up for adoption including Talli, Benri, Bikeni and other unnamed wolves from various branches within the two packs.

Plot Points (a look back and a look ahead)
Who are the Tsanka?
Who is Benri?
Who is Talli?
Who are the Denaksa?
Who are the Gladiators?
What happens to the captives?
There's a religion?
Punishments...that sounds ominous. What are those?

Plot Timeline:

Past Events:

Sindri is captured by the Tsanka as a bride for Benri. Benri renames her Amalia. Sigmarr and Baldur soon follow, hoping to get her back.

Sigmarr and Baldur are captured and sold to the Denaksa, who send them to the ring as gladiators.

After being convicted of trying to start a rebellion when she tried to get other captives to escape with her, Sindri is subjected to epilation.

Valentine, lured in by the celebrating, joins a festival hosted by the Denaksa. He meets and gets to know a Tsanka fae by the name of Talli and the two conceive a litter outside of marriage which is against the Tsanka laws.

Future Events:

Talli discovers that she'd pregnant. Her parents take her to the Elders for judgment and for her crime, she is subjected to epilation.

Talli gives birth and is allowed to raise her child until she is weaned. Once the girl is weaned, she's taken from her mother and abandoned at the battlefield.

Sindri, and an assortment of captives (and possibly Talli and Benri), escape imprisonment. They're pursued by the Tsanka who are aided by Denaksa handlers and their gladiator captives, one of which is Sigmarr.

Who are the Tsanka?

Snaking its way across a land adjacent to Alacritia is a nomadic pack called the Tsanka. This group, among other things, practices marriage by capture. When one of their children reaches the age of one that child and his or her parents sets off to find ?the one?. When ?the one? is found he or she is abducted at the first possible opportunity. Depending on the circumstances, this might consist of the future in-laws simply snatching the child up or the whole pack getting involved. This custom is sacred to them and they firmly believe that the foreign child chosen by their own was meant to be with them; that the two were destined to be together; that they are were souls separated before birth with the sole purpose of finding each other in this life. They believe in reincarnation, that each time they die their souls are thrown into confusion. Finding your soulmate in each life is a vital part of your ascension, which happens after an unknown number of life cycles. The kidnapped child is promptly married to his or her young captor and is slowly integrated into their way of life.

The Tsanka are a nomadic family pack that follows prosperity. The only time they settle in a place is during winter. As soon as spring rolls around they're off again, following the herds, the birds, or whatever their shaman says is what they should be following. Everyone in this group uses the surname 'Tsanka' and those who are married into the pack adopt the name as well. Their names always end in a vowel sound.

Who is Benri?

Benri's situation is complicated. Whatever he feels toward Sindri (whether it's true love, affection, possessiveness or whatever) is very strong. It's also up to the player to decide on what his motives are. My idea for his situation is simple: he feels strongly in some way about Sindri or her situation and, motivated by it (remember that soulmate thing? That could be it too), he helps her and whoever wants to escape with her to get away. Or not. While that's the scenario I have in mind I'm not particularly attached to it. He could be a villain; be the one sent to bring her back. He could have been ugly to her, been abusive and spiteful. Almost everything about him is flexible. The only things that aren't are as follows: Benri's parents are very strict with his father taking the role of disciplinarian. His mother is a no nonsense kind of person. She's the type that shows affection through meanness (she'd be the one to tell you you're stupid while dusting you off and frantically checking you over for injuries after a spill) and tends to fret over the well-being of her children in a roundabout way. His father can be summed up in the phrase 'spare the rod, spoil the child'. He's harsh with his punishments, sometimes pushing the limits of what is acceptable to drive home a point, but this tendency is somewhat balanced by his willingness and ease as a teacher. The Tsanka are very religious, so their religion would play a huge part in Benri's life. Rituals and sacrifices would be commonplace in their way of living. Marriage by capture, to him, is not an evil or despicable thing. His own mother was acquired that way. It's a way of life, a step to eternity. For simplicity's sake, Benri is the exact same age as Sindri. He has two siblings of undetermined personality and gender who are the same age as him, a litter of newborn siblings and a huge extended family.

ADOPTABLE

Just about everything about him is changeable.

Who is Talli?

Talli is Benri's older sister. She has yet to claim a mate and as a two year old this makes her an ?old maid? in the Tsanka tradition. She keeps her reasons for not taking one to herself so her player can decide why she doesn't have one. She's also the mother of Judah who is the product of a one night stand with Valentine. As having children outside of marriage is viewed very negatively, Talli was punished with epilation and then forced to stand by as her daughter was taken from her and abandoned in the Alacritia battlefield, as the Tsanka know Valentine was from around there. The scandal has lowered her standing in the pack considerably and greatly disappointed her parents, who have decided to keep her youngest siblings away from her so that she can't corrupt them.

With the coaxing of Sindri, Talli later joins the escape.

ADOPTABLE

Her name and almost everything about her is changeable. Only two things about her that must remain the same: her love for her daughter (also her desire to see her again) and upon entering the game her fur will still be growing back.

Who are the Denaksa?

Alongside the Tsanka is a pack of sorts called the Denaksa. This group is an offshoot of the Tsanka, distant relatives who have adopted a radically different lifestyle. They live a luxurious, easy life and are, by all standards, very wealthy. Unlike the Tsanka, The Denaksa are a settled pack, holding onto an extensive range. They've gathered their wealth through trading and are quite cunning when it comes to bartering. They're wealth-seekers, willing to hunt down anything you desire?for a price. They work mainly in the slave business, particularly in training, fighting and occasionally breeding gladiators (CLICK for more info), although the majority of their stock is acquired rather than bred.

Their dealings with the Tsanka are relatively straightforward; the Tsanka bring them captives and information, and in return, when one of the Tsanka's own captives escapes, the Denaksa send wolves from among their own to aid the Tsanka in their search. Although their different lifestyles routinely separate the two groups, they're close, tied firmly together by blood and trade.

The Denaksa practice marriage by capture too, although their beliefs are a bit different. Only the sons capture brides and the key to their ascension is to have as many wives and children as possible. They're as greedy in this department as they are with their businesses. They don't care about love or about integrating their wives into society; all that matters is their ability to produce offspring and it's not unheard of for an infertile or no longer desirable bride to be sent to the fighting ring as a reward for the winning gladiators.

Like magpies, they adore shiny trinkets. Bangles and medallions are all the rage, but really, anything with a bit of shine to it is considered an accessory. If it were shiny enough, it wouldn?t be out of the question to see one walking around with a copper pot on its head.

Of the two groups, the Denaksa are definitely the more dominate. In the last few generations, traditions from the Denaksa have wormed their way into the much more peaceful lives of the Tsanka. At one point the Tsanka only raided for brides, but now it's not unheard of for them to decimate an entire pack for potential slaves for the Denaksa. Punishments are also the norm in Tsanka culture. It used to be that such things were reserved for only the most severe crimes, but its becoming more and more common for the harshest of sentences be brought down on the pettiest of criminals.

Gladiators:

The gladiators are warrior-type wolves that were either captured or raised by the Denaksa for sport. Their lives are usually short and brutal, but if they manage to hold their own, they're allowed to retired at 6. A retired gladiator is given a medallion as proof of their earned freedom and they are allowed to live among the Denaksa. It's not uncommon for retired gladiators to turn around and work as masters of the ring, raising/training future generations of fighters. Upon earning their freedom they're given as many of five wives (depending on their standing among the people) and are typically given various bits of jewelry by their long time supporters/admirers. Upon their capture, gladiators are branded with a mark on either their hip or their shoulder. It's not unheard of for the best gladiators to be bred to one another and/or to a slave to secure their genes. Sexual rewards are also given to highly favored gladiators. Any offspring from such an encounter is typically raised as a fighter, a future breeder, or sold outside the ring for various purposes.

MORE INFO SOON

...Religion?

Yes! There's a religion. The Tsanka belief in a supreme being that brought the world into existence for its own entertainment. This being is called the Creator and, since it is above the bodily constraints of the mortal world, is genderless. The Creator comes in three parts:
The Mother/The Father: This part of the Creator is seen as the disciplinarian. Males are typically punished by The Father and females by The Mother.
The Child: Also called The Boy, or The Girl, depending on how this part chooses to present itself. The Child is seen as the fun side of the Creator and gives gifts and blesses newborns. Anything that brings joy is considered the work of the Child, althoug acts of mischief are usually blamed on this part as well. An imaginary friend of a child of the Tsanka is usually considered to be The Child playing, although malevolent incarnations are always chalked up to be one of the lesser gods and depending on what they do to the Tsanka child, purging may be used to cleanse the spirit.
The Grandfather/The Grandmother: Shows affection. Rain after a drought, a successful hunt, easy or tragedy-free childbirth; really, anything that is considered positive or beautiful is accredited to The Grandfather or The Grandmother.
The lesser gods: These gods aren't considered part of the Creator, rather, they were created by Them. The lesser gods are rarely named and run the gamut of of purposes. Some love chaos and war, choosing to encourage beings who enjoy these qualities as well, and others are more peaceful and contemplative, choosing to encourage followers like them in similar endeavors. I might come back later and name some of these.

Punishments:

Epilation ? the wolf being punished has most of the fur on their body (anything that can be grasped) pulled out. This is typically done by the elders, but anyone who wishes to participate can join in. Both the Tsanka and the Denaksa practice it.

Purging ? the wolf being punished is forced to drink a liquid that makes them violently ill for several days. Side effects include vomiting, diarrhea, hallucinations, painful muscle cramps, fever, chills, excessive sweating, teeth grinding and incontinence. Mostly used by the Tsanka to cleanse the body of evil. The Denaksa use to weaken the resolve of their captives.

Beating ? Self-explanatory. Used mainly by the Denaksa to punish an unruly slave and is usually repeated over long periods of time and combined with starvation in order the break the will of their captive. Some Tsanka use it to punish their captives as well, although with far less severe methods.

Branding ? Only the Denaksa do this. Their captives and criminals are given a brand based on what they've done or what their purpose in society is. Gladiators get a brand either on their shoulder or hip and criminals, lesser slaves and traitors get a brand on their forehead. The mark is applied either with a heated piece of metal or something sharp. Three horizontal slashes mark a slave while a 'T' shaped mark with a horizontal line under it mark a gladiator. The mark, in the case of one applied to the hip or shoulder, is made quite wide so that it's visible long after healing.

Rape ? One of the methods used to break in new slaves by the Denaksa. This applies to both genders. Lesser slaves, inferior captives, or wolves who have displeased the Denaksa elders are routinely given to the winning gladiators as a reward. Few Tsanka practice this as a punishment or even consider it a weapon against their captives, but they do encourage procreation among their newly paired children because well, duh.

What happens to the captives?

Their in-laws would give them a new name (that ends in a vowel sound) for sure and they would be given some kind of task. Everyone in Tsanka clan has a job to do to make everything work smoothly. Your captive would likely be trained in whatever it is that particular family is needing. For example, Benri's family is made up of healers, so Sindri is being trained as a healer.

How do they get their captives to stay? That depends largely on the parents of the child doing the marrying. Some think brutality is the best way, others try to make their new in-law feel at home and still others use a combination of both to mold their new relative. Play it however you want, just keep in mind that the end goal of whatever their methods are is to make the captive stay.

What about rescuers? What do they do about those? If your pup is from a family of rogues then it's very likely that the Tsanka killed his or her parents and sold any siblings to the Denaksa to ensure there's no one to rescue them. As for pack wolves, the Tsanka tend to take their captive(s) and run to avoid a major conflict. Or, in the case of Baldur and Sigmarr, who tried to rescue Sindri and normally would have been killed had they been there when she was taken, the pair was also sold to the Denaksa.